Thunder Grays - Flightless Pegasus
by A Derpy King Boo
Summary: Hello, my name is Thunder Grays and I am a flightless Pegasus. I had lost the ability to fly at an early age after a horrible accident. This is my story of a struggle to find my way home with Fluttershy, a Pegasus pony I really like. Please listen to my story as it is quite interesting, especially me being flightless. It is very touching to me. -Part 1-


My name is Thunder Grays, and I am a Pegasus pony living here in Ponyville. I originated from Cloudsdale, a city up in the sky which is inhabited by other Pegasus ponies just like myself. I have lived here in Ponyville for quite some time now and have gotten to know pretty much everypony in town. My two bestest friends in the whole wide world also happen to be Pegasus ponies, just like me. Their names are Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. We grew up together in Cloudsdale when we were younger and always had fun together. Truth is, I consider them to be like my sisters, though I have never told either one of them that (and don't think I will, at least not yet). Anyway, I am not like any other pony or, more specifically, any other Pegasus ponies you've seen. No sirree. What makes me different from the other Pegasi is that I cannot fly. Due to an accident while I was a young colt, I had lost the ability to use both my wings and haven't been able to fly since.

Being a Pegasus that is unable to fly is tough, especially when you see your friends flying all over the place, especially Rainbow Dash. I was only a young colt of about three or four when I lost the ability to fly but the one thing I miss most about flying is the races I used to have against Rainbow. Flying that fast with my blue mane flowing in the wind, that's one thing I really wish I could experience one more time. But, now instead of flying with the wind in my mane, I run with the wind in my mane. It isn't the same as flying, obviously, but it's the closest I can get to making my hopes and dreams come true. Which brings me to my next thing, my dreams. My dream, if you aren't able to tell just yet, is to overcome all odds and fly in the air just like before. It is a dream that I'm sure will possibly never happen but, nothing is ever impossible, right?

Anyway, I live in Ponyville now and am close friends with two unicorns named Twilight and Rarity as well as two Earth ponies named Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, these six ponies mean just about everything to me, and I'm more than certain that this feeling is mutual. I am currently on my way to go visit Fluttershy and help her out with taking care of her animals. She says that they can sometimes be a handful to care for but I'm up to any challenge. Plus, what are friends for? We help each other out no matter what.

Moving on though, as I'm going to Fluttershy's cottage, I happen to bump into Twilight, who is also on her way to go see Fluttershy. We decide to visit her together and never managed to have a moment of silence along the way. Twilight always loved to talk about Canterlot, Princess Celestia, her time here in Ponyville, as well as other stuff. I'm not known to be a talker as I'm fairly quiet. Rather, instead of talking, I listen to what everypony has to say. I guess this comes in handy from time to time but I wouldn't mind someone else listening to the story of me being a flightless Pegasus rather than my friends. Usually, when anyone asks what I am, I say that I'm an Earth pony, since I never show my wings anymore. I mean, what's the point of showing them if I can't use them, but I think I'm getting a little offtrack here.

Anyway, when Twilight and I got to Fluttershy's cottage, we noticed that she wasn't there. We looked all over Ponyville and were unable to find her anywhere. We even had Rainbow Dash check Cloudsdale to see if she was there, but had no luck when Rainbow came back empty hooved. So, before we jumped to any wild conclusions, we went to see if either Pinkie, Rarity, or Applejack had seen Fluttershy. The only pony who seemed to know where Fluttershy was was Pinkie, saying she was in the Everfree Forest. We weren't sure if Pinkie was playing a joke on us or not but we did indeed check out the Everfree Forest and sure enough, Fluttershy was there.

Something seemed different about Fluttershy when we saw her though, though I couldn't place my hoof on it. Anyway, with Fluttershy found, we went back to her cottage with the other five ponies and all chipped in helping Fluttershy out with her animals. It took all day and was a lot of hard work but it was worth it since I got to be with all my friends. Once every other pony left at the end of the day, I turned to Fluttershy, still wondering what was different about her today. She still had the same pink mane and the same light yellow coat but as I looked into her eyes, something just didn't seem right. Something inside of me was telling me that I should ask her if anything was wrong but my mouth just couldn't form the words clearly. I thought nothing more of it and told Fluttershy to have a good night and that I would see her tomorrow.

As I left, it hit me! I don't know why I didn't see it before but her eye color was different! Instead of her usual calm, kindhearted light blue eyes, she had a dark blue eye color! That wasn't the real Fluttershy! I went back to her cottage to see if there was any suspicious behavior and peeked into the window.

The thing that happened next, I'd highly doubt I'll ever forget. The phony Fluttershy turned out to be a Changeling! Those things haven't appeared around these parts in a long time. I don't remember the last time I ever seen one. I don't think I've ever seen one as a matter of fact. Anyway, I noticed the Changeling and overheard what it was saying. I'm not sure who he was talking to but what I heard was that the transformation was a complete success and nopony suspected anything. I was shocked but kept on listening since the Changeling had more to say.

"I also saw Him, your majesty." It continued.

"Him?" I unknowingly said. My "big" mouth got me in trouble now as the Changeling heard me and turned around. I started to run away as fast as my legs could carry me and was being chased by that Changeling. I was on foot while the Changeling flew as fast as he could. It was an unfair chase as he was beginning to catch up to me. So, in order to buy myself some time, I tried to be as unpredictable as I could while running, turning corners at the very last second. It worked for the first few times but the more I did it, the more the Changeling knew. I saw Twilight's home up ahead and called out to her, hoping she would hear me.

Twilight opened the door just in time and saw both me and the Changeling. Unfortunately, before I could safely get inside, the Changeling tackled me and knocked me down. It changed into an exact copy of myself and spun me around in circles. Twilight was now unsure of who the real me was as I tried to convince her it was me, well, the real one, uhm...the one who was friends with her for a long time, I guess would be the way to decipher between me and the Changeling.

Anyway, Twilight knew which one was the real Thunder Grays as she used her magic to reveal the Changeling, frightening it and causing it to fly away. I thanked Twilight for her help and knowing which one was the real me and told her what had happened.

"Very interesting." she said. "I'll report this to Princess Celestia tomorrow morning and have this mess cleared out. As for Fluttershy, well, we'll have to search all over Equestria for her."

"Thanks, Twilight." I responded. "I'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully we can find the real Fluttershy tomorrow as well."

And with that, I left for home. On my way home, I ran into the Changeling from before. I was so scared, the only thing I knew what to do was yell for help. It was no use though as the Changeling grabbed me and sucked me into the ground.

"I am you and you are me." It said. "What I do, you do and what you do, I do. Now, sweet dreams!"

That is the last thing I remember before blacking out.

…...

When I woke up, I noticed that I was inside a cave. I wasn't quite sure how I got here in the first place but the one thing I saw, other than myself, was Fluttershy. I didn't know if this was the Changeling from the night before so there was only one thing to do...

"Fluttershy?" I called out.

When the pretty yellow Pegasus turned around, I noticed everything was the same as the Fluttershy from yesterday, with the exception of one thing; the eyes she had were the light blue they were supposed to be. She ran over to me yelling my name out. She wrapped her hoof around me and gave me a friendly hug; obviously this was the real Fluttershy. There was just so many things I liked about this pretty little pony that I just never had the guts to tell her directly.

"Oh Thunder," Fluttershy started in her calm, majestic voice, "I'm so happy to see you! I thought I was gonna be stuck here forever."

I shook my head, signifying that we were gonna find a way out of here, one way or another. Like I said, I'm not much of a talker and when it comes to beautiful ponies such as Fluttershy, I lose it. But, she knows me very well and understood what I meant when I shook my head.

"But, how are we going to find a way out?" She continued.

_Man that voice of hers is so angelic. _I thought to myself. Finally, I spoke and told her to search high and low. "There must be a way out of here."

She nodded and flew up and searched the cave high. She looked so elegant while she flew, I just wanted to tell her. But, first things first; trying to find a way out. While I may not be able to fly, I have some very strong legs. I kick the stone around me, trying to see if there was possibly a hole or a way out of this cave. Unfortunately though, I began to startle Fluttershy, and I feel really bad.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy." I say. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay..." she responds quietly.

Well, with that idea out, I decide to sit down and think about how we'll escape. Just then, I noticed a small hole at the top of the cave, leading to the outside! I began to tell Fluttershy of the hole and how we should escape through it.

"But you can't fly." She warned. This was true. I couldn't fly out of this cave but there was no sense in trying, right?

I stood in the center of the cave and removed the coat that covered up my blue wings. I stretched them out and heard Fluttershy idolize them, complementing them for their "beautifulness" was the word she used to describe them. It has been such a long time since my wings were last visible in public but, I tried and tried to fly. I tried flapping my wings as hard as I could but had no luck. I turned to Fluttershy and held my head down low...

"Here," Fluttershy said, "let me show you how to flap those beautiful wings."

I looked up and saw her flapping her beautiful wings very gently. I looked at my wings, shut my eyes, and tried to do the same thing. I gave it all I had but just couldn't seem to fly. I opened my eyes and saw Fluttershy standing right in front of me. She looked into my green eyes and knew how I felt. I literally died on the inside, just a bit, knowing that I would never be able to fly ever again...

I swear that Fluttershy can read me like a book. Either that or my emotions were pretty obvious. She put her hoof around me and brought me closer to her.

"There, there Thunder." She told me. "You just need a little extra confidence boost, that's all."

She rose my lowly head with her hoof and leaned towards me. I widely opened my eyes as Fluttershy kissed me! It felt like hours to me but I'm sure that wasn't the case. Even a kiss on the cheek from her would've been enough of a confidence booster. Instead, she kissed me on my lips, as did I to her. When she leaned away, I planted my hooves in the ground. I tried once more to flap my wings and fly into the air and out of this cave.

I closed my eyes and flapped as hard as I could. I didn't know it at the time, but I had started flying. It wasn't until Fluttershy told me that I opened my eyes and realized that I was indeed flying!

"Thunder!" She shouted. "It's a miracle! You're flying!"

"I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" I said as I flew out of the hole and out of the cave. Fluttershy quickly followed me out and we both started to make our escape together. It felt nice to be back in the air after all these years of not being able to fly! I remember the doctors telling me that I paralyzed my wings and that I'll never be able to fly again when I was younger. But all it took for me to be able to fly again was the affection of a beautiful yellow Pegasus named Fluttershy!

Anyway, with Fluttershy and myself out of the cave, I couldn't manage to keep myself airborne any longer. It was difficult for me maintaining my flight, let alone trying to fly. I plummeted to the hard, unforgiving ground and crashed, hurting my wings. Now, it was difficult for me to even spread them out. Fluttershy noticed me struggling to spread my wings and flew to the ground.

"It just doesn't seem right if I flew away and you ran." She told me. "Either both of us fly away or we run together."

I looked at Fluttershy. Part of me wanted to shout out "are you crazy" but the other part, the one I listened to, felt thankful that my bestest friend in the whole world wouldn't leave me alone in the dust.

"I want you to feel like an equal." Fluttershy told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It wouldn't be fair if I flew out while you ran out of here. I'm sure if I was you and you were me, you would do the same thing for me."

I felt touched by Fluttershy's words. They meant a lot to me, especially since they came from her. The moment was cut short unfortunately when we saw some Changelings coming from the castle that was behind the cave. Fluttershy and I started to run away and ran into a nearby forest. I knew how to camouflage myself perfectly, which was my cutie mark, since I loved nature and all its creatures and decided to stop and hide.

I put on some camouflage and helped Fluttershy out with hers. I had put on some leaves and some tree bark on myself and put on some leaves and twigs for Fluttershy. We then hid inside the ominous forest, myself next to some tall grass and Fluttershy laying next to a tree. The camouflage had worked perfectly and successfully his ourselves from the Changelings as they flew right past us in a hurry. We stood by for a while longer, just to make sure that the Changelings weren't returning. Finally, we got up and continued moving. We managed to make it to the outskirts of the forest and saw the Changelings that were chasing us a while back. They were talking to someone, but not to each other...

"We lost them, your majesty..." one of them said.

"I want one of you to find them and the other go and play the role of Him!" Someone else said.

"Done and done." Both Changelings said.

"Don't fail me." The voice said.

Both Changelings went to do their jobs. One of them flew away to come find us and the other flew straight up. I looked at the one who flew up and took note as to where he was going. There was a small gate up in the sky and when the Changeling went through it, he disappeared. I turned to Fluttershy and told her that we need to get up to that gate if we want to escape and go home.

"But how will you get up there?" She asked me. "It's so far away and you can't fly that high..."

I thought about that for a while. I didn't know how to get up to the gate and Fluttershy couldn't carry me since I was too heavy to carry. I didn't know what to do and Fluttershy could see it in my eyes. She walked up to me and put her hooves around me. Then, she started flapping her wings as hard as she could. I closed my eyes and looked down since I knew that this was pointless. No offense to the Pegasus I like but she just isn't that strong enough to carry me up so high. I wanted to do something to try to help, such as flapping my wings, but it hurt just moving them. All I could do was watch Fluttershy struggle for no reason. She stopped for just a second and asked me to flap my wings.

"I'm not sure I can do that, Fluttershy." I answered.

"I know you can, Thunder." She responded. "Believe in yourself and you can do anything imaginable!"

I sighed and struggled to flap my wings while Fluttershy carried me up. I managed to flap my wings, just not as hard as I did earlier when I flew. However, it was just enough as we started flying upwards. Before we knew it, we were passing the small gate and instantly warped home! What I saw next was unfortunate...

…...

To be continued...


End file.
